Employment, industrial relations and working conditions in the European rail transport sector
For over a decade, the European rail transport sector has undergone extensive structural change. The consolidated report provides an overview of employment, industrial relations and working conditions in the sector. In addition, five country profiles of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom examine overall development and market trends in the sector, as well as structure and performance of the main companies.
The rail transport sector in the European Union has undergone a huge process of change, triggered by market liberalisation which came about as a result of EU legislation in the area. In spite of a common European framework, railway markets in the EU Member States have developed at different paces, largely due to diversity among the individual countries in implementing the regulatory framework.
Key changes that have already taken place in the sector include the break-up of the former state-owned, quasi monopolies into different companies, both in the former EU15 countries and in many of the new Member States. This has led to the separation of passenger and freight transport service provision from infrastructure management and to a greater focus on core activities, with outsourcing of non-core activities. Another key development has been the opening up of markets to new entrants.
As a result of these developments, the rail transport sector has become much more heterogeneous in all Member States. The impact of these developments on employment levels and on working conditions in the sector has been substantial.
Overview of the sector
The consolidated report (
474 kb) provides an overview of employment, industrial relations and working conditions in the European
rail transport sector, based on three different sources. It begins with a chapter on employment levels, which presents Eurostat data as well as data
collected from company reports, and information provided by industry associations, trade unions and consultancies. Given that information on working
conditions in the railway sector, particularly quantitative data and employment statistics, has not kept up with changes in the sector, there are some
discrepancies not only between aggregate European sectoral data and other sources, but also between these sources.
Since the evolution of working conditions is largely dependent on industrial relations in the sector, the second part of the report provides a comparative overview of industrial relations in rail transport in the EU25 and Norway, as well as in the acceding countries, Bulgaria and Romania. It is based on national reports from correspondents of the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO).
Finally, the third part of the report provides a summary of profiles of employment levels and working conditions in the rail transport sector in five countries: Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The findings are based on a study by SCI Verkehr in Germany, which was commissioned by the Foundation in June 2005.
Profile of the sector in five EU Member States
The five countries highlighted in the consolidated report - Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom - represent the most important rail markets in the EU (along with France and Spain). The country profiles focus specifically on the European standard gauge railway operator market, which comprises short and long-distance passenger, as well as freight, transport services. For each country, the overall development and market trends in the sector, as well as structure and performance of the main companies, are analysed.
One of the key questions addressed by the country profiles is the extent of outsourcing of activities in the rail transport sector in each of these countries. Accordingly, each profile provides estimates on the level of outsourcing in the country examined.
The country profiles are downloadable for free as PDF files by clicking on the links below.
Germany
Germany’s rail transport sector ( 1.15Mb) is one of the most important in Europe, not just in relation to its industrial market but also with
regard to its operations. Today, competition between the different railway operators is increasing in Germany, particularly in the freight and
short-distance passenger transport services sector. This, in turn, has had an impact on the working conditions of employees. Differences exist in the
general tariff agreements of the Deutsche Bahn (DB) AG group and of the private competitors. Overall, there has been a greater move towards a more
flexible, individualised and regionalised approach to and cooperation with employees.
Italy
Over the last 15 years, the Ialian rail transport market ( 656kb) has changed, with Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) being
transformed into a holding company embracing several specialised companies. At market level, the FS group still maintains a leading position and
continues to employ around 95% of railway workers in Italy.
A number of new players are also currently active in Italy’s railway freight transport market, with small but increasing market shares. At the same time, changes in working conditions have resulted in the loss of some privileges and in the reduction of beneficial pay differentials along with other working categories. These changes have not affected the role and the importance of railway trade unions.
Netherlands
In recent years, the Dutch railway market ( 428kb) has opened up extensively to greater competition for transport services. Today, the railway sector in the Netherlands
encompasses a number of different companies, operating in a highly competitive environment, including NS Reizigers which operates the country’s core
network under contract to the transport ministry and various regional networks.
Within the railway sector as a whole, employment has declined from 45,200 employees in 1996 to 37,700 employees in 2003. The railway sector’s current share of employment accounts for between 0.54% and 0.77% of total employment in the Netherlands. Another trend among railway operators is a move towards greater cooperation with employees through a more personal and regional approach.
Sweden
The Swedish rail transport market ( 368kb) was one of the first in Europe to be liberalised. In 1999, the former national railway group,
Statens Järnväger (SJ), was privatised and divided into different independent companies. Today, a large number of private operators are active in the
sector in Sweden. A significant number of international players have also expressed interest in entering the market.
The liberalisation of Sweden’s railway market has led to a dramatic reduction in the overall number of workers in the sector. Working conditions in the sector have also changed. Private operators that have won new operation contracts have usually employed former SJ workers, although they are not required to do this by law, nor do they have to maintain the same working conditions as the previous employer.
United Kingdom
The most visible effect of changes in the UK rail transport sector ( 647kb) has been the privatisation and fragmentation of the train operator companies. In contrast to the
rest of Europe, there is no longer a leading national company in the UK rail transport sector.
Similar to trends witnessed in other countries, there has been a further reduction in employment in the last 10 years, although this process was already under way in the former state operator British Railways. Moreover, the presence of several competitors has created an increased turnover of workers (especially skilled workers and specialists) among the companies. Although the role of the trade unions is more complicated due to the greater degree of fragmentation within the sector, their importance has not diminished.